Wiggins went into the mountainous 167.5km run from Saint-Alban-Leysse to Morzine with a 38-second lead over Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step).

But after crossing the line fourth behind Quintana, Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) and Daniel Moreno (Katusha), Wiggins extended his lead going into Sunday’s final stage to 1:20 over his own teammate, Michael Rogers.

“When Cadel attacked he took a small lead, but I didn’t want to take any risks,” said Wiggins. “It’s not a problem to give him 25 or 30 seconds.”

Evans, the defending Tour de France champion, moved into third overall at 1:36 after finishing 16 seconds behind Quintana, whom Movistar sport director Yvon Ledanois described as “a pure climber, but he also knows how to do other things.”

“I was hoping for a little bit of a chance for the stage (win),” said Evans. “But I also heard Tony Martin was dropped on the Joux-Plane and I wanted to maintain the gap on him.”